


In the Cold

by TheSoundOfThunderstorms



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Reworked story, sombra suffering through a mission in the cold, something to do with cassette tapes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 10:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundOfThunderstorms/pseuds/TheSoundOfThunderstorms
Summary: The mission gets complicated when they don't even know what they're looking for.





	1. Assignment

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so, yes, this is the same story of the same title. I deleted my first attempt because I wasn't happy with the first two chapters I had. Decided to rework this story because 1. I'm a better writer than I was when I first wrote it 2. As I finished chapter three, I wanted to make some tweaks and this was the best way to do it. 
> 
> To all that have read the first two chapters, I encourage giving the rework a go because it's a better read and there are some things that are different. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

Purple eyes shot open at the sudden impact of something landing on her stomach. “What the hell, Gabe?” Sombra sat up on the couch she was lying on, grabbing the manila folder thrown at her. “And what the hell is this?” She thumbed through the folder in confusion.

“Your new assignment.”

She could almost picture the smirk on his face as she dealt with the task of sifting through the mission details. “You know, you could have e-mailed me these. Like a normal person would.” Plus she could speed read an e-mail. Her eyes weren’t as quick as her mind.

“Figured you should get reacquainted with older media.”

Sombra scrunched her eyebrows at the reply. “I can’t hack paper, Gabe.”

A shrug. “Dropship leaves in two hours. You should pack something warm.” Reaper turned to leave, stopping to say one more thing. “Oh, and this might take a while. Just keep that in mind.”

Shaky hands held onto the folder in a fierce grip. Sombra re-read the mission location over and over again, each time getting closer to shredding the papers into a thousand pieces. Antarctica. “Bastard.” He’s was sending her to fucking Antarctica. Sombra forced the manila folder closed and threw it passionately to the floor. “That bastard.” Sombra leaned over, holding her head between her hands. “He wants to kill me.”

The sound of boots echoed off the walls. Sombra heard them stop behind the couch. A familiar sigh sounded behind her. The footsteps moved again, making their way around the couch, each step accompanied by the tapping of boots on paper.

“Sombra.”

“I’m not in the mood for whatever it is.”

“Don’t be late.”

She lifted her head, slowly looking in Widowmaker’s direction. Widowmaker had her arms crossed, clearly not amused by Sombra’s reply. “You’re going with me?” Sombra blinked a few times at what her partner was wearing. A white frosted bodysuit with white gloves and boots. The suit was patterned with shades of ice-blue. Sombra couldn’t help but smile of the thought of Widowmaker blending in with the snow.

“You’d know I was going if you bothered to read the report.” Golden eyes roved the mess of papers scattered about the floor. They snapped back up to Sombra a few seconds later. “Don’t keep me waiting like last time.”

Listening to Widowmaker complain about her bad habits was enough to lift her spirit. Sombra sat back on the couch, a huge smile lit up her face at the look of annoyance spilling through those golden eyes. “Relax, I don’t see why you’d be so eager to get dropped in the middle of nowhere anyway.”

“Don’t. Be. Late.” Widowmaker frowned when Sombra laughed in response.

“Aw c’mon, don’t frown.” Sombra hopped off the couch, stepping through the mess of papers to get to her partner. “Tell you what,” an arm made its way around a cold neck, pulling Widowmaker closer to her, “I’ll even be there before you.”

“Good.” Widowmaker walked away, white boots crinkling papers as she went. A pause. She looked down at the ground, swiping away at a particular piece of paper that stuck to her boot. “You should pick this up.” Another swipe and she left satisfied that her boots were paper free.

“Yeah, I’ll pick it up.” She blew a kiss, winking at Widowmaker’s departing form.

When her partner left, Sombra felt a little better about the mission. She bent down, taking her time to pick up the crinkled mess of papers littering the floor. “Gabe may want to kill me, but at least I’ll have good company. Even if I end up freezing my ass off.” She picked up the paper with the word ‘Antarctica’ in bold. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t still a little pissed at Gabe. “Asshole.”

-

She made it half an hour early. Sombra didn’t mess around. She had on a white puffy jacket, light gray pants, and white waterproof snow boots. A light gray beanie covered her head, little tufts of purple sticking out from the bottom. A pair of snow goggles rested on her forehead, ready for when she needed them. A pair of purple gloves were shoved on top of her usual pair, the tips cut so she could still use her fingers. The warmest, purple scarf she could find was wrapped around her neck. It covered her mouth, the scarf stopping just below her nose.

Next to her feet was her overstuffed bag of extra clothes and everything she thought she might need. That included her precious teddy bear stuffed in the middle of it all. It was a simple information grab. Find what they were looking for and go. Gabe said it might take a while though. Sombra gave her bag a gentle kick. “I’m not taking any chances.”

Sombra gazed at the side door, the sound of boots alerting her to her partner’s arrival. Just as Widowmaker took her first step in the dropship, her eyes locked with Sombra’s. And she was smiling. Sombra could have sworn she heard a soft laugh escape those cold lips.

You don’t see that every day. “Was that for me?” Her words were muffled from under the scarf.

Widowmaker dropped her bag next to Sombra’s, placing her rifle case underneath a seat. “You look ridiculous.” A gloved finger tugged down the purple scarf. “Better.”

“Aww, you don’t want my pretty face to be covered up? I’m flattered.”

Golden eyes narrowed at the comment. But Widowmaker didn’t say anything in response. She eyed Sombra a moment longer, bringing a finger up to rest on the goggles covering Sombra’s forehead. She gave them a tap, turning around to take a seat next to Sombra.

Sombra brought a purple hand up to the spot where Widowmaker tapped her goggles, rubbing the material as if it would provide some sort of answer. She eyed Widowmaker, taking in that she wasn’t wearing any extra layers, only the outfit she saw before. The bag Widowmaker brought with her was tiny compared to hers. It looked like it barely had anything.

“That’s all you’re going to wear?”

Widowmaker regarded Sombra like it was obvious. “I don’t feel the cold. It’s pointless to wear something I don’t need.”

“Well yeah, I know that.” Sombra readjusted her goggles. “But I’m getting cold just looking at you. Can’t you put on a sweater or something? I’ll feel warmer if you look warmer.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Sombra mustered up her award-winning pout, trying her best to convince the woman beside her. “Please? I’m already freezing thinking about being there. It’s a psychological thing.” She shivered at the thought of Widowmaker standing out there in the snow with just the bodysuit.

“I don’t even have a sweater with me.”

That was all Sombra needed to hear. “Don’t worry about it, I brought plenty.” She bent over, opening her bag to rummage for one of the extra sweaters she packed. The first sweater that she pulled out of her mess of a bag was purple with her signature skull emblazoned on the back. The front had ‘Sombra’ spelled out across in a stylized white font. Merchandise from one of those stores appealing to a ‘hip’ crowd. It was too ridiculous not to buy. She shoved it into her partner’s arms. “Here, that should work.”

Widowmaker held up the sweater, examining it with a critical gaze. The sweater probably wasn’t the most offensive thing Widowmaker had seen because she put her arms in the sleeves and pulled the rest of it over her head a moment later. Widowmaker pushed up one of the sleeves so that she had room to launch her grappling hook.

Sombra stared on in awe. The sweater should have been thrown back at her, followed by a little quip about how she should focus. Widowmaker took assignments seriously, which wasn’t surprising considering that’s what the higher up ingrained in her. But there she was, wearing her admittedly favorite sweater, not a single complaint thrown her way. The longer she stared, the more it felt that something was missing. And that’s when it clicked.

“One more thing.” Sombra pulled off the scarf around her neck and offered it to Widowmaker. When Widowmaker crossed her arms and looked pointedly at the offending article of clothing, Sombra gave her partner the best puppy eyes she could muster. “Please?”

A sigh. “Fine.”

Not a second wasted. Before Widowmaker could even blink, Sombra had wrapped the scarf around a cold neck, smiling when it ended up covering up half her face. “Oh, hold on.” A purple-clad finger tugged the scarf down, revealing Widowmaker’s neutral face. “There.”

Sombra sat down in her seat after a job well done. “I feel warmer already.” She buckled herself in, feeling that the ship started to move. Her legs stretched out in front of her, crossing one over the other while her arms folded behind her head. A purple eye peeked to her partner, the self-satisfied smile wiped off her face when she saw that Widowmaker took to leaning back in her seat, her face buried in the extra clothes she wore.

Yes, that definitely was the erratic beating of her heart as it threatened to pound through her chest. Sombra brought her arms down, busying herself by trying to find something to read on one of the many purple screens that appeared before her.

It was hopeless. She couldn’t help but look back, heart thudding every time she saw that peaceful face buried in a sea of purple.

-

They got off the ship a couple kilometers from the abandoned base they were supposed to search through. The wind was too strong for the dropship to get any closer.

Sombra had already put her goggles on, pulling up the hood of her jacket and tugging it closed tight. She looked like a walking snowwoman waddling through the snow. It also didn’t help that Widowmaker appeared unaffected as she walked a few steps ahead of Sombra.

“H-hey.” Sombra could barely speak between the intense chattering of her teeth. “Could you s-slow down?”

Widowmaker stopped, staring off in the distance as she waited for Sombra to catch up. She didn’t shake Sombra’s hand away when it wrapped around her arm.

“Keep this up and I might start to think you like me.” Sombra had attached herself to Widowmaker’s arm, holding on tight for any semblance of warmth.

“Just keep moving. It would be unfortunate if you died now.”

Sombra held on tighter, a giant smile on her face. “You do care.”

They walked the rest of the way without any more conversation between them. Sombra could have sworn her mouth was frozen shut while Widowmaker wasn’t much of a conversationalist to begin with. When the first signs of the abandoned base appeared, Sombra let go of her partner’s arm and ran for the entrance.

It was like she was a different person. Sombra found the strength to rip the lid to the control panel open, desperately trying to get the door open. “Damnit.”

“What is it?” Widowmaker had caught up to Sombra. She found her with her head against an open panel, fists balled up in frustration.

“There’s no power.”

“Then we find another way in.”

Sombra sighed. She pushed up off the wall and waddled around looking for something. A moment later she found what she was looking for. “Backup generator’s that way.” She pointed down the compound to a little shed.

Widowmaker immediately changed course and headed for the shed. Sombra stumbled after her, already hating the detour they had to make.

Once at the shed. Widowmaker tested the door and saw that it was locked. Turning around, she handed Sombra her rifle case. “Hold that.” When purple gloves gripped the handle of the case, Widowmaker turned back to the door. She gave the handle a few taps before nodding her head. Stepping back slightly, she lifted a leg and kicked in the frozen door handle. The metal snapped from the impact, falling away to the ground a moment later. Sombra shoved passed Widowmaker through the now unlocked door, rifle case in hand.

It only took a minute to find the power switch. Sombra was hugging the rifle case for warmth by that point as she flipped the switch. The sound of the running generator nearly made her cry. It was like she did a 180. On the way back to the entrance, Sombra ran the whole way there. Purple tendrils made their way through the panel, working their magic until the doors finally opened.

The abandoned base wasn’t that big. Sombra ran through the floor plans Gabe sent her halfway through the flight to Antarctica. First thing first, she needed to turn on the heat.

Sombra loosened her hood, pulling it off her head. Reaching up, she pushed the goggles back to her forehead. “Alright, I’ll get the heat going. Then we’ll find what we came here for. And then I’ll call Gabe to tell him to fuck off.”

Widowmaker simply followed after Sombra in her quest to find the heat.

“Okay, heat, heat.” Purple fingers messed with the first temperature module they found. Her right hand hovered in the air as she read the message on the screen aloud. “Heating turned off due to emergency power mode…” Eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “Like hell it is.” Sombra went into overdrive overriding the stupid protocols keeping her from the precious heat.

Nothing.

It was supposed to work. She fixed the protocols. Where was the heat? “This better not be what I think it is…” She started a diagnostic program on the heating system, groaning when the results came back. “No, no, no.” Sombra could only stare at the big red letters on the screen that spelled out ‘System Failure’.

“It’s broken.” She wanted to cry. She was in hell. Some sort of frozen hellscape made just for her. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him.” A pull on her shoulder brought her out of the comforting mantra.

“It’s just heat. We need to finish the mission.”

Sombra nodded forlornly. Of course Widowmaker would try to console her like that. She didn’t have the problem of freezing to death. Sombra couldn’t hold it against her though. “Okay, I’ll start looking.”

Sombra plopped down in front of the first computer she found. The hood was back on her head, pulled tight to keep her face warm. Quick fingers made short work of the need for passwords. It was easy getting in, but there was something off. “That’s…something.” No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find anything. It was like she was working with a new computer. It was completely blank, save for the programs it came with. The only thing worth-while she found was that an external memory device was frequently used. What are you trying to hide?

It was like that for every computer she found. Completely wiped clean, not a single thing left for her to find.

“This isn’t looking good.”

Widowmaker peeked over Sombra’s shoulder. “What is it?”

“Well, that’s the problem. There’s nothing to find. Whatever it is we’re looking for, it’s not in the system. Only thing I can think of is that we need to find some sort of external memory. That’s what it all points to.”

“Then we look.”

Impossible. There was nothing to find. Every nook and cranny held nothing but cold air. It mocked her, laughing in the face of her suffering.

Sombra groaned. “I can’t leave until I find it. And whatever ‘it’ is, is nowhere to be found. Drag me to hell already. I’m ready to die.” She stopped in front of a broom closet. It didn’t really occur to her to check inside because no one has anything important in a broom closet but she was running out of places to check. “Might as well.” The door opened, revealing rows upon rows of boxes. She reached up and took one down, ripping off the tape to look inside.

“No.”

Sombra dropped to her knees, some of the box’s contents spilling to the floor. “No, no.” She reached inside, picking up a handful of the archaic media. “No, no, no.” She wanted to cry. The urge to find a nice corner and curl up in a ball to sob grew stronger the longer she stared.

The boots echoed through the hallway, stopping right next to Sombra on the floor. “Did you find it?”

Sombra lifted her chin, sorrowful eyes locking onto golden irises. “Yes… I think I did.” Gently, she placed the items in her hands back in the box, looking on at them in horror. “Cassette tapes. They put everything on fucking cassette tapes.” Her body slouched back. “We’re going to be here forever.”

Widowmaker bent down, picking up one of the tapes. “How long will it take?”

A purple hand gestured to the rows of boxes. “We’re going to be here for at least a few days.” Getting up, Sombra dusted off her pants and wandered down a hallway.

“Where are you going?”

“If I’m going to be here sifting through cassette tapes, I’m making myself comfortable. In fact, I’m not touching those until tomorrow. I’m just done. I’m done with the cold. I’m done with the heat being broken. And I’m done with today. You can say all you want about this in your report. I don’t care.”

-

Widowmaker stayed quiet, watching as Sombra disappeared down the hall. She gazed back to the closet, taking in the number of boxes that were on the shelves. On the bottom of the closet, piled on the floor, were several unknown devices. They looked old, some of them missing parts. It looks like they were thrown here.

She wasn’t going to say anything to her partner. Sombra was upset enough as it was, anymore pushing wouldn’t do any good. She followed where Sombra disappeared to, curious when she found her partner dragging a mattress down the hallway. “What are you doing?”

Sombra paused, huffing from the exertion of dragging the mattress down the hall. She looked behind her, tired eyes taking in Widowmaker’s confused expression. “I’m getting comfortable.” Her chin pointed to the room she was dragging the mattress to. “This room doesn’t have windows.” She smiled while patting the mattress. “This is your bed, I already have mine in there.”

“Is this your idea of some sort of slumber party?”

A laugh. Sombra rested her chin on the mattress. “Do you want it to be?”

And now she’s just playing around. “Sombra.”

Sombra waved off the menacing tone Widowmaker used. “Relax.” She waggled an eyebrow, a sly smile shining through. “You know, I do like it when you get all upset with me. Highlight of my day really. You get this cute crease between your eyebrows. And if I’m lucky enough, you’ll use the scary scowl on me.” Her face lit up when said scowl was directed right at her. “Ah, there it is.” She took a moment to calm down. “Actually, I want you with me because I want the room to be as warm as it can.” She held up a hand as if to stop Widowmaker from speaking. “I know, you’re cold. But you’re not that cold. At least not as cold as it is outside.”

Widowmaker blinked, taking in everything Sombra said. “Fine.” She turned around, walking back to find where they left their things.

She bent down, throwing on Sombra’s bag. Her arms held her own bag and her rifle case. When she made it back to the room, Sombra had already dragged the mattress inside, complete with blankets and pillows. Widowmaker walked inside, throwing her bag on the empty bed. She made note of the sight of Sombra curled up in a tight ball under her blanket.

“Here.” Shrugging off Sombra’s bag, she placed it at the end Sombra’s bed.

Sombra lifted her head, looking down at the bag at her feet. She reached for it, digging inside to pull out a couple things. First, she took off her puffy jacket and immediately pulled on two hoodies. She wrapped the puffy jacket around her shoulders. Next, she pulled on two pairs of socks, sighing in relief at the added warmth. Last, she gently took out a teddy bear, hugging it tight to her body. She shot Widowmaker a dirty look after a moment.

“Don’t tell Gabe about this.”

Widowmaker shrugged. The bear was none of her business. Gloved hands went to work removing the purple scarf and sweater. A quick look to Sombra and she saw that the woman was laying on her side, facing away from her. She sat down on her bed and resumed her task by taking off her boots. Her gloves went quickly afterward, leaving her in nothing but the bodysuit. Widowmaker started pulling on the zipper, peeling off the suit from top to bottom.

She sat there in nothing but her underwear, staring at the small bag she brought. Eventually, she found herself reaching for the purple sweater, pulling it on again. Windowmaker climbed under the blankets and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would hopefully provide results to get the mission done sooner.

 

 

 


	2. Things Still Don't Get Easier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last of the reworked chapters.
> 
> Enjoy :)

It was something that kept her tossing and turning. The thought dangled on the tip of her tongue, but no matter how hard she tried to connect the dots, everything would crumble away. That was until she woke up in the middle of the night with a sudden epiphany.

“He knew!” The five layers of blankets fell to Sombra’s waist as she shot up from her bed. “He knew about the tapes and sent me here anyway.” She could see her own breath in the cold room and hurried to cocoon herself under the blankets again. “He’s gonna get what’s coming to him when I get out of here.” Sombra clutched her precious teddy tight. It was the best thing she could do to try and de-stress.

When she rolled over, Sombra nearly jumped out of her skin as golden eyes stared back into hers. “Fuck.” Her heart was pounding from the scare. “Scared the shit out of me.” Purple tipped hair fell over her eyes. She took a sharp breath of air when cold fingers brushed against her face. A trail of tingling skin left behind when ice like digits tucked the hair behind her ear.

Some heat traveled up to her face as a blush spread across her cheeks. There was just something about that stare. Captivating, to say the least, absolutely beautiful if someone asked her to keep describing them. She blinked when the same fingers tapped her forehead.

“Go to sleep.”

She must have woken her up. “Sorry about that.” A guilty smile made its way onto her face. “I was just so pissed when I finally figured out that Gabe sent me here knowing that we were gonna find those tapes.”

“He probably didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t come if you knew.”

“Yeah, I’d be back in Mexico right now. Where it’s warm and where people don’t use fucking cassette tapes to store shit in.”

Widowmaker turned around in her bed, closing her eyes. “And where I’d be stuck doing your work as well.”

That stung to hear. “Hey…” Sometimes she could, admittedly, be a pain in the ass. But she wasn’t _that_ flakey. Was she? “I wouldn’t let Gabe do that to you.”

The answering silence made her feel guilty.

“Come on, if I knew Gabe was gonna send you to this hell hole by yourself, I would have at least booked two plane tickets.”

“Empty words and hot air. Sounds just like you.”

Another sting. “Do I really just talk shit a lot?” She brought the blankets down a bit to let loose an arm. Tentatively, Sombra reached out shivering fingers, just barely touching her partner’s back. “Hey…” Widowmaker shifted in the other bed, near glowing eyes barely looking her way. She took it as a good sign. “Just forget what I said okay? Even though I’ve been complaining out the ass, I’m glad that at least you’re here with me. I really like it when it’s just the two of us.”

There was a sigh and incoherent muttering but there was also a rumpling of blankets as Widowmaker turned around to face Sombra. “You really don’t know when to stop talking.”

“Guess not.” Sombra could feel the smile overtaking her face when Widowmaker averted her gaze.

“Just go to sleep.”

A brief moment, but Sombra saw the small upturn of Widowmaker’s lips. It was enough to calm her feelings of guilt. “Yeah, okay.”

-

When she woke up again that morning, Sombra could have sworn she felt freezing cold water spotting her face. A couple more droplets hit before she realized that she wasn’t imaging things. “What the hell?” Wiping her face, she peeked an eye open. Widowmaker sat on her bed as she ran a towel through her wet hair.

“You’re up,” said Widowmaker.

“Can you stop that for a second?” Sombra sat up and scooted to the far end of her bed when Widowmaker paused in drying her hair. “Okay, we’re good.”

While Widowmaker went back to her routine, Sombra reached for her bag, digging through it for the clothes she wanted. “How was the water?”

“Fine.”

Sombra pulled out the fluffiest towel she owned from her bag and flung it over her shoulder. “Alright, I’ll go take a shower then.” In one movement, Sombra stood up from her mattress, shivering as a rush of cold air frosted over her skin. She clenched her teeth to try to stop them from clattering.

One agonizing trip down the hallway and Sombra made it to the showers. One of the stalls was still damp from previous use. Placing her clothes and towel on a hook on the wall, Sombra leaned into the shower and turned on the water.

Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull when Sombra realized what ‘fine’ meant. The water was _freezing_. No matter how long she waited with the hot water turned all the way up, the temperature never changed. “Of course she thought it was fine. The world could freeze over and she’d be just peachy.”

The temptation to just turn off the water and snuggle back under her fifty layers of blankets ate away at her willpower. Last’s night conversation rang through her mind, stopping her from giving in. Reluctantly, Sombra started peeling off her clothes, telling herself that if Widowmaker could do it, so could she.

“Fuck.” She wasn’t even standing under the water yet but the wayward droplets that flew to her skin shocked her system repeatedly. Damn her resolve. “Okay, okay.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced her feet to move until she stood directly under the frozen stream of water.

The sense of feeling slowly drained from her as the shower went on. One moment, her face went numb, the next, her fingers were unable to feel anything. The whole time she shook in her own special hell. Sombra barely even registered that she was crying as she was too busy curling up on the shower floor, huddling for any semblance of warmth as she waited for the shampoo to rinse out of her hair.

It suddenly got better.

Sombra lifted her head when a hand touched her shoulder. Her body still shook when Widowmaker wrapped the towel around her. Sombra’s arms automatically found their way around her partner’s neck when Widowmaker lifted her from the shower floor.

As Widowmaker carried her out of the bathroom and down the hallway, Sombra tried to so hard to spit out even one word. She had to settle for resting her head on Widowmaker’s shoulder, grateful for the semblance of warmth that started to worm its way back to her body.

She barely noticed that she was back on her bed again with how gentle Widowmaker put her down. It wasn’t until Widowmaker started drying out her hair did she snap out of the haze. Purple eyes looked down to her hands, seeing that she held on tight to the clothes that were placed in her arms.

“How’d you even know I was freezing to death in there?” It felt good to finally be able to speak again.

“I could hear you crying from here.”

Sombra took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the heat returning to her system. “I tried to suck it up.”

Putting the towel down, Widowmaker ran her fingers through damp hair, smoothing out the ruffled locks. “You were trying to ‘suck up’ freezing to death.”

She sucked in another breath when her damp hair swept over her back. “I didn’t want to complain about it.”

An amused chuckle escaped blue lips. “You complain about everything.”

“Yeah well…” She dropped the towel from her shoulders when Widowmaker moved away from the bed. In a hurry, Sombra started to put her clothes on. “Sometimes I decide not to.” As she continued to layer her clothing, Sombra watched from the corner of her eye as Widowmaker pieced together her rifle and visor.

“You’re going out there?”

“Yes.”

“What in the hell for? There’s no one here.”

“Because it’s my job.” Flinging the rifle over her shoulder, Widowmaker left the room without another word.

Sombra sat there, staring at the cold puffs of air coming out with every exhale, her task of dressing warm forgotten.  She sighed, frustration crinkling her brows. “Better get to it then.” Shoving on her boots, Sombra paid no mind to the cold. She just needed to get dressed so she could do her job as well.

-

They were taunting her. Each box stacked in the utility closet gave her a smug smile, teasing the fact that they were each filled to the brim with cassette tapes. That is if boxes could smile. A pile of broken tape decks lied on the ground next to the box. She could have sworn faint laughter echoed from the closet as she stared down at them.

“Where’s a damn screwdriver when you need one?” Sombra pulled down the beanie on her head, covering her eyes for a moment as a wave of cold rushed over her body. A moment later, she wandered down the hallway in search of said screwdriver.

To her relief, a screwdriver sat nestled in a box of stuff she found while searching the rooms at random. Probably the first thing to go right for her that morning.

“Got a tape deck to fix.”

-

About two hours had passed since Widowmaker moved from her spot on the roof. She stayed on her stomach, meticulously combing through the snow-covered landscape from her scope. Sombra had been right, no one was there. The most activity being a seal or two flopping around by the water in the distance.

Lifting an arm, Widowmaker shook off the snow that settled there, doing the same for the other arm afterward. Admittedly, there wasn’t much to do. She just mainly lied there, letting the snow pile on top of her.

She would have gone back inside if it wasn’t for the fact that Reaper had instructed her to keep careful watch. It meant that even though no one was there now, there was a high chance that someone would show up sooner or later.

-

Things had gone well, aside from the obscene amount of cursing that accompanied her job of getting one of the tape decks functional, Sombra managed to piece one together. To her delight, all the cables she needed were already connected to the tape decks. She even hefted one of the boxes all the way to the nearest computer with a smile on her face.

“Alright, let’s see what’s on these things.”

With the tape deck already connected, Sombra popped in the first tape. Surveillance feed. From the look of the room in the video, she guessed that it was in the empty lab two doors over. The audio was muffled. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the scientists were speaking into tape recorders, keeping mostly quiet otherwise. A quick peek into the box filled with tapes, Sombra figured those audio recordings were there as well.

She crossed her arms and lifted her feet onto the desk. “What’s with the tape obsession?” Her question was never answered no matter how many times she watched the same two scientists speak into their respective tape recorders.

Nearly two hours of watching the same tape, the silent torture finally ended. Sombra quickly ejected the tape and started a new ‘watched’ pile on the computer desk. She groaned when she looked back to the box filled to the brim with tapes.

“This…” She couldn’t even finish her thought because even the vague idea of watching more of those tapes sent her mind reeling. Yesterday she thought it was going to be a couple of days, now it was looking like a couple of weeks at least. 

There were two options. Option one: Fast forward through the tapes and risk losing out on important information. Option two: Watch and listen to each tape and slowly die a cold death. Sombra sighed again, wrapping her hand around her scarf in frustration. She leaned toward option one simply for the fact of having been tired of the place since the first minute of arriving.

“Okay, maybe I can sort through them or something.” Sombra shoved her hand inside the box and pulled out a random handful. To her surprise, some of them were labeled. “Alright, we’re getting somewhere.” She really wasn’t but pretending gave her some semblance of sanity.

“New plan.” Lowering her feet from the desk, Sombra leaned over the box and began plucking out the labeled tapes. She started another pile of labeled tapes, keeping the unlabeled ones in the box.

“I’ll watch those first,” Sombra pointed to the labeled tapes, “and then the rest afterward.” Satisfied with her plan, she started going through the labeled pile, trying to see which one was more interesting by how they were titled. One tape had her doing a double take, a grin slowly spreading across her lips as she re-read the title.

“No way.” The tape had ‘Bésame’ scrawled across it. “I swear if this is what I think it is…” Her thoughts trailed off when she giddily shoved the tape into the tape deck. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when the familiar piano started playing. “Holy shit, it _is_.”

With a huge smile on her face, Sombra set off extracting the song to the computer. “Whoever recorded this song to these godforsaken tapes is my hero.” When she finished extracting the song from the tape, she ejected it from the tape deck, kissing it before placing it in the watched pile.

Sombra put the song on repeat, raising the volume on the speakers, singing along all the while. She always did have a soft spot for love songs. Suddenly, her task didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Tapping her fingers, she put another tape in and watched with renewed vigor. “Bésame…”

-

It was only for a split second, but Widowmaker saw it. A heat signature. It came from beneath the facility. As fast as it came, it died out.

“Underneath.” Disengaging her visor, she got to her feet, picking up her rifle on the way up. It didn’t take long to climb down the ladder that lead to the roof.

The first thing she noticed was the music echoing down the halls. It wasn’t hard to figure out the culprit behind it all. She sighed, following the sound of the music to where her partner was.

“Sombra.”

“Hmm?” Sombra looked behind for a second before focusing back on the screen. “Oh, you’re back.” She brought a hand to her scarf and started to unravel it. When she was done, she held it out behind her. “How’d it go?” She hummed while she waited for a reply.

Widowmaker took the few steps towards her partner and grabbed the scarf. She spoke while wrapping it around her neck. “There’s nothing outside.”

“Not really a surprise there.”

“There’s something underneath.”

Sombra stopped humming, turning the swivel chair to look at Widowmaker. “We searched the whole place and didn’t find anything leading down.” She paused. “Maybe it’s on the tapes?”

A reasonable thought. “How long will it take you to find it?” Widowmaker frowned when Sombra started to laugh.

“That’s the question of the year.” Sombra pointed to the small pile of watched tapes and grinned. “I’ve only gone through four tapes.” Sombra nodded her chin towards the speakers. “I found this song though. It’s pretty much the only thing keeping me sane.” The grin grew wider. “Wanna dance?”

It was Widowmaker’s turn to laugh. “And if we’re dancing, who’s watching the tapes?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ve got good hearing and even better eyesight. I can do two things at once.”

“We are not dancing.”

“Come on!” Sombra stood up from the chair and started her own little shimmy. “This is how you tango, yeah?”

The dance was terrible and exaggerated. There was no rhythm or structure. A complete mess. “No, that is not how you tango.”

“It’s not?” Sombra pretended to be deep in thought. “Is it because you need two people?” A smirk found its way to her lips when Widowmaker sighed again at her antics. “Feel like teaching me?”

She had no idea how Sombra succeeded in convincing her. Actually, she did. It was just something she didn’t want to acknowledge. Widowmaker came to another conclusion. She only caved to stop Sombra from keeping on with whatever dance she was attempting to do. A true atrocious sight. “You need to be close.”

Sombra stopped in her tracks. “Wait, really?”

Widowmaker crossed her arms. “Yes, before I change my mind.”

Sombra rushed to get closer, smiling awkwardly at her partner. “Is this close enough?”

“Closer.” She pulled Sombra towards herself, wrapping her left arm around her partner’s back and leaving just a hair’s breadth of space between them.

-

Sombra found herself feeling warmer, cheeks flushing from the small distance between them. “Got it.” A cool hand touched her left wrist, bringing it up to her partner’s back. They were so close. The puffy jacket Sombra wore felt hot. She didn’t dare try and take it off though, no power on earth could have moved her from that spot.

Widowmaker taught her the basic steps. They’d repeat the same motions over and over until Sombra was confident in her movements. And that’s where she started singing along to the song, feeling the romantic vibe as they danced together.

Sombra stumbled with the words when Widowmaker suddenly changed their routine, dipping her low. “Woah, I’m not that advanced yet.” From her vantage point, Sombra could clearly see the screen behind them. At first, it was the same two scientists in the same room, but then the footage cut to the hallway. One of the scientists opened a panel on the wall.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Sombra let go of her partner so she could fully face the screen. From what she could see, the scientist used some sort of keycard to activate the opening in the floor. The footage cut to another room, one she hadn’t seen before. The big draw was the unconscious man floating in the horizontal tank. The liquid was entirely yellow and it seemed the man had no problem breathing while submerged in it.

_“Day 64, subject still remains unconscious. The disease has stopped spreading.”_

The scientist wrote something down before continuing.

_“The treatment appears to be effective.”_

It sounded like they were at some kind of medical facility. Sombra didn’t wait for the video to finish to find out before she set off into the hall. She didn’t stop until she found the exact spot on the wall. It was covered with a safety guidelines poster. She tore the poster off the wall.

“How do I open this shit up?” The cover to the panel was flush with the wall. If she had to guess, they probably replaced the old one to make it harder for someone to find. Someone being Sombra trying her best to pry the damn thing open with her nails. It proved to be fruitless. She wasn’t wearing her usual gloves. Without those, her nails weren’t actually that long at all. Not that having long nails would have helped.

Sombra shrieked when a knife came from behind, embedding itself into the panel.

“Warn a girl first.” Her heart pounded and she could swear she was sweating under her layers of clothing.

Widowmaker grunted as she worked on loosening the panel. It didn’t take long with the aid of the knife. Soon the sound of metal hitting the floor accompanied her partner’s groans.

“Why in the hell is everyone here obsessed with cassette tapes?” Sombra could only stare at the ‘keycard’ slot shaped exactly like a cassette tape.

“We find the key.”

A sigh. There were so many boxes left to check. “I guess I can shove every tape in here until something works.” A rumble in her stomach brought her attention elsewhere. “Think we can eat first though?” Sombra got to work on taking off her puffy jacket. She really was sweating.

Widowmaker stared at Sombra as she offered the jacket to her. She eventually took it and put it on as Sombra gave her a thumbs up, smiling all the while. “Let’s eat before you complain about dying of hunger.”

Sombra just laughed at the comment. “You know me so well.”

 

 


	3. Point of Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were slowly getting somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :)

_“Okay, day one.”_

The man on the other side of the camera looked deathly pale. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead and dark bags outlined the bottom of his eyes.

 _“So, they said it’d be best to keep a video journal. Talk about how I’m feeling and anything else that pops up.”_ He chuckled before continuing. _“I just can’t use any names.”_ He laughed again as he stared into the camera. _“And they had me using these ridiculous tape recorders.”_ The camera shook to emphasize his point.

Sombra had her feet propped against the desk, watching the tapes while she idly chewed on a piece of jerky. The food situation proved to be disappointing and she had settled for eating the snacks she brought in the meantime. The only things not cryogenically frozen were the questionable jars of fruit that had labels from seven years ago. Of course, as was the running theme of the place, the appliances in the kitchen were all broken. Sombra couldn’t even gnaw on half the food there without breaking her teeth on a thick layer of ice.

“How’s your jar of peaches? Have they killed you yet?” Widowmaker had pointed out that the mission report had stated the food was safe to eat, citing that the fruit was stored in a highly experimental preservation liquid. The new tidbit of information just pissed off Sombra even more. It made it abundantly clear that dear old Gabe had been there before. She was out there freezing her ass off so he wouldn’t have to.

“It’s good.”

With Widowmaker’s mark of approval, the jar sitting in front of Sombra seemed slightly more appealing. “You sure it doesn’t taste funky? The stuff they put in there didn’t even freeze.” When Sombra stole a glance at her partner, it was hard not to smile at Widowmaker staring intently at the video footage of the tank man talking about what he ate for breakfast while also delicately eating her jar of peaches.

It was cute.

“If you want Sombra, I can eat them all for you. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about the taste. You brought enough snacks, yes?”

Sombra glared at the jar of peaches. Widowmaker was making fun of her. She knew damn well the snacks in her bag were limited. “I swear to god, if I die from eating these, I’m haunting you first. Then I’ll ghost my way to Gabe and corrupt his files for the rest of his life.” She grabbed the jar and opened the lid. The smell was pleasant enough and the liquid was still clear. “Here goes nothing.” Sombra picked up the spoon next to the jar and scooped up part of a peach.

“Well, have you died?”

“I think…” Sombra set the jar down on her lap, her hands still gripping the glass, “Yeah, I died and went to heaven. These are pretty good.”

“There’s still time for them the kill you.”

“ _Or_ , here’s the alternate theory. I already died and you’re in heaven with me,” Sombra clear her throat, “because in my heaven scenario you’re there too.”

“You daydream about me dying at the same time as you.”

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds a bit less romantic than intended.”

Widowmaker laughed. “Romantic.”

“Yeah, _romantic_ , what’s so funny about that?”

“It’s funny that you’d waste your flirtations on me.”

Sombra brought her feet down from the desk and straightened her back. She stared down at the peaches in her lap, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “I can stop if you want me to.”

“It doesn’t matter either way.”

“Yes, it does. If you want me to stop, then I will. I care about what you think of me.”

“You don’t seem the type to care about that.” Widowmaker leaned forward in her chair and rolled closer to Sombra. “You try to disarm your enemies by appearing carefree. You have them underestimate you, to have them believe they have the upper hand. What others think about you means nothing to you.”

The spoon clicked against the jar as Sombra stirred her peaches. “And who are my enemies?”

“Everyone.”

The spoon stopped and Sombra looked up. “Not you.” She scooped up a slice of the fruit and ate it thoughtfully. “I never saw you as my enemy.”

Widowmaker sat back in her chair, eyes narrowed. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I do.”

“All you do is play games.”

“If all I do is play games, why play back? Like earlier, why dance with me if it was just a game?”

“That’s…” 

“Yes, I’d rather be underestimated. Yes, I play around to make myself seem disarming,” Sombra sighed, smiling a second later, “but is it that hard to believe that I actually like you?”

Golden eyes studied Sombra’s face, searching for anything that could betray Sombra’s words. “That’s it? You flirt because you like me?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“You shouldn’t.”

Sombra laughed. “I can’t exactly just turn off how I feel.” Her jaw dropped when Widowmaker whipped her head away, an indigo blush spreading across Widowmaker’s cheeks.

Silence hung between them. Sombra tried to wrack her brain for anything to say that wouldn’t embarrass Widowmaker further. At least, she was pretty sure Widowmaker was embarrassed. “Hey, um,” she scratched the back of her head and kept her eyes glued to the desk, “like I said before, I can stop if you want me to.”

The silence continued to stretch on to the point where Sombra thought Widowmaker was just ignoring her. That was until Widowmaker finally spoke up with a surprising response.

“You don’t have to stop.” The blush never faded. Instead, it only intensified. “The dancing wasn’t terrible and…”

Tank man talking in the background faded away as Sombra focused on Widowmaker, listening intently for her to finish her thoughts.

“Never mind.”

Sombra let out a held breath and deflated in her seat. “You had me at the edge of my seat for a minute there.”

“It’s hard to explain.” The blush was gone but Widowmaker averted her gaze from Sombra to concentrate on the video.

“But you liked the dancing?”

“I hadn’t danced with someone in,” Widowmaker sighed, “a long time. It felt familiar.”

The admission had Sombra smiling. It disappeared when Sombra caught sight of the video from the corner of her eye. “Woah, woah, woah.” She paused and rewound it, jaw dropping at the man on the screen. “That motherfucker.”

Gabriel stood in the background, face buried in a chart. Sombra played the video again and watched as he crossed the room behind tank man.

“He was here and he won’t even tell us what he fucking wants.” Sombra’s lips settled into a frown as she brought up a purple screen. “I’m calling him right now.” The screen stayed blank, indicating that Gabriel either denied the call or he was ignoring her.

With her blood boiling, Sombra didn’t feel the cold anymore. “I knew it. I _knew_ it.”

“This mission isn’t on the record.”

That wasn’t what she was expecting. “What?”

“You were supposed to read the full mission report after you picked it up from the floor.”

“So, what, we’re here on a personal mission for good old Gabe?”

“We’re here on an assignment that’s meant to be kept from a select few council members.”

Widowmaker’s answer explained why she didn’t seem concerned with the vague mission objective. “If this is just Gabe’s dirty laundry, why’d you agree to it?”

“I want to go home. If I do this, he’ll make sure no one bothers me for a month.”  A slight frown appeared on blue lips as Widowmaker shifted in her seat. “And I don’t exactly have the luxury to deny my superiors.”

Sombra nodded her head in understanding. Every time she came back to Talon headquarters, Widowmaker was always there. With her skills in high demand, she probably hardly got to go home, if ever. “What’s at home?”

“Quiet.”

“Ah.” Sombra pressed play on the video and watched it with slight interest. “I can’t do quiet.”

 _“I think I feel a bit better today? I’m not sure.”_ Tank man held up an apple and smiled. _“Yesterday I was able to eat without throwing it back up. I’ll take that as a good sign that I, hopefully, won’t puke this up because I love apples.”_

“I have to analyze everything,” started Widowmaker.

 _“I was supposed to be dead a month ago.”_ He tossed the apple core off camera and picked up another one. _“It still feels like I’m going to drop dead any second but…”_ Juice splattered on the camera as he bit into the apple. A finger hurriedly wiped it away, only managing to make the smearing worse. _“Ah shit. I’ll clean that later.”_

“I have to determine if the person I just passed wants me dead or not. I have to do that for everyone.”

The taped stopped. Sombra leaned forward and ejected it. She tossed the cassette on the floor and pushed another one into the player. When tank man started to talk about his lunch, Sombra brought her full attention to Widowmaker.

“It feels like weeks pass by when I try to figure out a glimpse of a feeling, that spark of… _Something._ ” Widowmaker stared off to the wall, her fingers idly tapping against the armrests of her chair. “The quiet helps.”

Sombra felt selfish for complaining at all. Widowmaker was patient and diligent in the assignment, all so she could find some peace of mind. All she did was give a half-assed effort because she was cold. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this meant that much to you.”

Widowmaker’s lips formed into a small frown at the apology. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came. Instead, she crossed her arms and looked back to the video screen.

If Widowmaker didn’t want to speak anymore, Sombra wasn’t going to push it. She focused back to the screen for five minutes before sighing. As soon as she pressed the fast-forward button, Widowmaker spoke up.

“Why don’t you like the quiet?”

Tank man spoke in a high-pitched squeak and Sombra smiled in satisfaction at her achievement. “Everything I do has a reason.” Her eyes studied the fast-paced video, searching for any clue to their problem. “When it’s quiet, I’m reminded of it over and over again.”

“I’ve seen you in the quiet before.”

Sombra tapped her head. “It’s never quiet in here.” The tape ended and she quickly replaced it. A screech sounded in the room followed by a monotone voice reciting a list of names. Sombra paused the tape and smiled wide. “I think this is it.”

After rewinding the tape, Sombra grabbed it out of the player and stood up. “Let’s see if we can get you home soon.”

They walked back to the uncovered panel and Sombra shoved the tape in. A red light lit up for a minute before it turned green. The tape came back out and the wall opened to reveal an elevator.

“No.” Sombra took the tape and backed up a little. “Most of the shit here is broken, that thing is probably a death trap.”

Widowmaker walked by Sombra and stepped inside the elevator. She crossed her arms and pointedly looked at Sombra. “What happened to getting me home? It’s just an elevator.”

Sombra pouted and her feet moved on their own. She stepped on and gazed at the control panel with wary eyes. “It’s an elevator that’ll take me straight to heaven.”

“Then I’ll be right there with you, just like in your daydreams.” Widowmaker pressed the button labeled ‘B1’ and the elevator doors closed.

The elevator descended for a couple seconds before it jolted to a stop. Sombra grabbed onto the handrails in panic. Her knuckles had turned white by the time the elevator continued down.

Like in the video, the elevator doors opened to a lab. Sombra came stumbling out first, already done with the whole experience.

The lab showed signs of a panicked shutdown. Equipment laid scattered across the floor and counters. Frayed wires and empty cabinets painted a picture of a rushed departure. Whoever was there took what they could and ran. The real draw to the eye sat in the center of the lab. A safe. A manual safe. Bolted to a counter, it was probably the only thing impossible to take in a hurry.

“Gabe is really testing my patience.” From everything she’d seen, there was no reason for Sombra to be there. Her specialty was in the digital world. She wasn’t exactly schooled in the art of breaking into manual safes. “Why in the hell did he pick me to come here?”

“You’re not the type to follow the rules. If you read the assignment, you would have seen that there was a sizeable reward should you keep quiet about what we find.”

A bribe. Sombra shrugged in appreciation. She liked bribes. Her allegiance was to no one, so she took what was offered to her, plus some. “Well shit, let’s get this thing open.” Sombra hoisted herself atop the counter and sat quietly as she navigated the web for ‘how to crack a manual safe’. A shit-ton of information she had no idea about came up as results. “This might actually take a while.”

Widowmaker nodded and turned to leave. “I’ll go keep watch outside.”

From the corner of her eye, Sombra watched Widowmaker walk back into the deathtrap of an elevator. She focused back on her research, kicking her feet against the counter as she sped her way through the search results. It was going to take a bit to get started. She kind of wished she had Gabe’s cheesy mixtape with her to pass the time.

-

On the roof of the compound, Widowmaker peered through her scope, checking the icy tundra for any sign of activity. Like the other time she kept watch, nothing proved out of the ordinary. It became a problem when, as someone trained to stay focused on the objective, her thoughts wandered.

Sombra. She’d be a liar to say her thoughts never strayed to the admittedly charismatic woman. The problem was that she always dismissed them, until now. Widowmaker thought she had Sombra figured out. She concluded it was a waste of time to delve into the sparks of feeling she’d experience when interacting with Sombra because of Sombra’s ruse of never taking anything seriously.

Their little talk had her remembering the first time they had to work together. The genuine laugh that came from Sombra when Widowmaker flat out told her no to an offer of ‘doing something fun.’ It was the first time she had the opportunity to refuse anyone at Talon, being that most of her interactions were with her superiors. Sombra appeared delighted at the refusal.

‘No’ became a frequently used word around Sombra and Sombra didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. There was a sense of satisfaction about being able to use a word that was usually denied of her. Until out of curiosity, she said yes. Sombra had dropped her jaw at the response. The endearing smile she received had Widowmaker pondering over the unusual feeling thrumming in her chest as they spent an hour at some restaurant Sombra had stolen reservations for.

The more they spent time together, the more Widowmaker believed she had Sombra figured out, which was why she still frequently said no to Sombra. She knew Sombra was far from stupid. Sombra was smart. Very smart. Sombra knew how people worked and how to take advantage of that. Widowmaker would only say yes when, despite her rational side telling her to steer away from Sombra’s unclear intentions, she heard that persistent whisper at the back of her mind speaking a possibility of understanding the confusing sensation that had everything to do with Sombra. She’d be twice the liar if she also said she disliked all the times she said yes.

Yes, she knew Sombra flirted with her on multiple occasions. Yes, there were times where Widowmaker found herself trying to chase down the _something_ that appeared in Sombra’s presence. But those moments were easily extinguished in an instant. As she stayed absolutely still on that snowy rooftop, Widowmaker couldn’t stem the bubbling fragments of that same _something_ threatening to come to the surface after finding out that Sombra was being genuine, that Sombra wasn’t trying to add Widowmaker to her vastly growing collection of trump cards. She had no idea how to proceed with that information except to think more on it, to figure out what she really wanted. The quiet helped with that.

A heat signature spotted through her scope made Widowmaker put her thoughts on hold. Someone stood by a vehicle a good distance away from the compound. They appeared to be observing the building with a pair of binoculars. Her finger hovered over the trigger, waiting for any sign of malicious intent. Widowmaker let out a held breath when the figure put the binoculars away and drove off. Disappointing.

Sitting up, Widowmaker dusted off the fine layer of snow covering her body and retrieved her bag. She pulled out a small drone. Setting it to alert her when someone approached the perimeter, Widowmaker left the drone hovering on the roof and climbed down to check on Sombra’s progress.

-

No progress. Sombra worked on that safe for about an hour with no results. She had found a stethoscope in a drawer somewhere and to no avail leaned over that safe the entire time to listen for some clicks that would tell her the combination. The cold nipped at her fingers because she had to take off her nice warm mitten to utilize her finer motor skills. When Widowmaker came walking out of the elevator, Sombra frowned to herself, disappointed at her lack of progress.

“Hey so… This is harder than I thought.”

Widowmaker approached Sombra, acknowledging Sombra’s statement with a small nod. She touched the safe and left her fingers hovering near Sombra’s on the dial. “No progress?”

Sombra’s fingers twitched as Widowmaker touched the dial and gave it a tiny, experimental twist. “None.” She looked on in curiosity as Widowmaker withdrew her fingers from the dial, brushing over hers in the process.

Widowmaker took a few seconds to stare at her hand, her brows creasing in concentration as she thought. As if breaking from a spell, she blinked a few times and let her hand drop to her side. “Maybe the tapes have a recording of the combination being used if you don’t think you can open it.”

Sombra placed the stethoscope on the counter and frowned at the thought of having to go through those cassettes again. She thought that was behind them. Apparently not. “Unless we can find some power tools lying around, we might just have to do that.” As Sombra put her mitten back on, she perked up at her next thought. “But first… Maybe you should take a crack at it.” She picked the stethoscope back up, giving it a considerate wipe of her shirt and offered it to Widowmaker. “You gotta listen for some specific clicking or something,” she took out her holopad and pulled up a screen with the detailed instructions, “This should tell you everything you need to know.”

Flipping through the text with quick eyes, Widowmaker took the stethoscope and set off to crack the combination. She hovered over the safe for a good twenty minutes of solid concentration.

Sombra held her breath in anticipation when Widowmaker straightened up and looked at her. “You got it?”

“The clicks all sound the same.”

There were more tapes in her future. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. I thought maybe you had better hearing and I was just imagining it when the clicking all sounded the same. Guess we have to watch more of those damn tapes.” Her shoulders slumped at the thought of watching one more minute of them.

“I would have thought you liked watching the tapes.”

Sombra laughed. “From all my complaining, what makes you think that?”

“Because I’m watching them with you.”

Sombra froze, her mouth twisting in silent astonishment as she watched Widowmaker head for the elevator. Widowmaker was far from wrong, she just didn’t think her crush would be used against her so soon. She snapped out of it as the doors started to close. “Hey wait. I don’t want to ride the elevator by myself.” Sombra ran for the closing doors and slammed into them. She rubbed her head and blinked in surprise when the doors stood open. Widowmaker must have pressed them open.

Keeping her mouth shut in embarrassment, Sombra walked inside the elevator and avoided eye contact with Widowmaker. Her plan ran smoothly until Widowmaker moved to be in front of Sombra. Cold fingers smoothed along the probably red spot on her forehead and Widowmaker’s lips perked up slightly after her little examination.

The doors dinged open in what felt like three seconds. Sombra found herself walking, pulled along by the hand as Widowmaker led them back to the cassettes. She must have been too distracted to move, baffled by the sudden change in Widowmaker’s demeanor.

As Sombra took her seat by the computer, she couldn’t help but blurt out the first thing that came to mind. “What happened on the roof?”

Widowmaker took her own seat and crossed her legs. “Nothing.”

“Something happened.”

Golden eyes locked with Sombra’s. “What makes you say that?”

“Because,” Sombra motioned to all of Widowmaker, “you’re acting different.”

Widowmaker’s cheeks turned a slightly darker hue as she faced away from Sombra to focus on the blank screen. “I decided that I’ve been thinking too much.”

“And?”

“And I’ll see where this goes.”

Sombra had no idea what that meant but nodded slowly, acknowledging that she at least heard what Widowmaker said. She’d have to wait and see too.

 

 

 


End file.
